Celebration as town's first London trains pull in
BBC/Jim ScottThe launch of a town's first direct rail link to London marks the start of a plan to boost tourism and "lift" the area up, according to its mayor.
Grand Central (GC), which runs services from Sunderland to the south, has started calling at Seaham where it will stop four times per day in both directions.
A celebratory event was held on the platform to mark the first time the County Durham town has been directly connected with London King's Cross.
The new stop, approved by Office of Rail and Road to initially run for a year, would up to 35 minutes off the journey time to London, GC's director Chris Brandon said.
The first service departed Seaham on Sunday morning as major timetable changes were brought in across the network, but the official launch was held on Monday.
Mr Brandon said: "We recognise the potential in providing a direct service here and it will provide significant benefits."
He also confirmed a fleet of new trains would be rolled out on to the Wearside to London link from 2028.
Seaham's Mayor Margaret Levitt said: "We've never had this connection before.
"We've always had to drive to Durham or get to York, or had to change at Newcastle.
"It's great for the area, great for tourism and hopefully brings more people to the area and lifts our area up."
